Orlando City SC selects Jalil Anibaba in expansion draft

Jalil Anibaba is a Sounder no more, at least when it comes to the roster.

In the MLS Expansion Draft today, Orlando City SC used their third choice of available players to snag Anibaba from the Sounders.

In response, the Sounders added Zach Scott to the protected list.  Though many doubted that Scott would be picked in this draft, the Sounders clearly didn't want to risk losing two center back options from the roster.

The Sounders made it through the rest of the draft unscathed.

Anibaba had 17 appearances for Seattle this season, racked up 1,288 minutes played and tallied one assist. Though seen as a promising depth player at the outset of the season as both a central and wide defender, a series of bad performances and spotty defending saw him fall out of favor.

Toward the end of the season, Anibaba was mostly relegated to the bench and made a few late game appearances, often protecting a lead.

The 26-year-old defender hit the cap at nearly $160,000 this season.  With the $50,000 in allocation money the Sounders should receive from this transaction, Seattle is looking at quite a bit of new cap space to replace Jalil's services.

Update:

It looks like Anibaba may remain in the Western Conference after all.  Sporting KC reporter Sam McDowell reports that Anibaba has immediately been traded to Kansas City as part of a deal to ship Aurelien Collin to Orlando:

#SportingKC acquires former Seattle defender Jalil Anibaba, who was taken sixth overall by Orlando City in the expansion draft today.

— Sam McDowell (@SamMcDowell11) December 10, 2014

Anibaba will complete the Collin trade.

— Sam McDowell (@SamMcDowell11) December 10, 2014

See the results of today's MLS Expansion Draft below, via MLSSoccer.com: